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Originally Posted by SeanZ4
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"Sex with her might be fun. "
Ekam..... Maybe so, but I have this very strict policy about "dating" outside of my own species!
What's with the 964's? I too, am looking at a black '90, cab, with tip and 80k mi. The miles are a little higher than I'd like and the tip is a so-so thing for me, but the rest of the car is pretty nice. Has anyone else traded a box in for a 964? If so, what should I expect the one I'm looking at to be worth??? They're asking 19k for it.
sean
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The 964 is a great car. It has the largest production air-cooled engine at 3.6L, it also is the last of the 'true' 911's. The doors and fenders will bolt right up to a '66, so the lineage is there, unlike the 993 which is actually a transition series to the 996. It's also a small car, much smaller than the boxster or 993, 996, 997 are, so it has a sportier feel to it.
The series originated in 1989 as the Carrera 4 all-wheel drive, adapted not from the 959 as commonly thought, but rather from the 958 Rally cars. Initially, the Porschephiles and Auto mags
poo-pooed the car as not being true to Porsche with the all-wheel drive, even though Porsche deliberately biased the system 69/31 Fr/Rr to maintain the true Porsche 'feel'. They also remarked that the car had too much understeer. Also criticized was the weight (250lbs.) and expense of maintaining the all-wheel drive system. While it is heavier, the Carrera 4 has the same 0-60 and Top Speed as the Carrera 2, but it's .2 sec. slower in the 1/4 mile. In response, Porsche in 1990 came out with a rear-wheel drive car and named it the Carrrera 2.
But, in recent years, many of the car mags have revisited the 964 Carrera 4 and have praised it highly saying the all-wheel drive system has held up well, the handling is superior to the Carrera 2, and that the car is now of the of the best values out there in used Porsches.
A few caveats:
First, the car used 12 spark plugs and twin distributors. The first is shaft driven and the 2nd is driven by a toothed rubber belt from the shaft of the first. The belts on these tended to break suddenly and if at the wrong point in engine rotation, would grenade the motor. Best case it would only fire on 6 plugs and run like crap.
It was found that Ozone, created from the rotor sparking, would build up inside the distributor. Ozone degrades rubber and so in time, would cause the belt to break. The fix turned out to be a simple vent tube, routed from the primary distributor to the air intake to draw the Ozone out of the dizzy where it could be burned off. The vent kit costs about $12, so be sure any you're looking at have this, or prepare to add it.
Also, the M64 motor was the first by Porsche to do away with head gaskets. Unfortunately, many of the heads warped allowing a loss of compression and oil spillage. The fix was to re-machine the heads to accept a headgasket. This one is spendy, so be sure someone else has already had this conversion done (most have been done by now). Porsche themselves recognized this and as of '92, all 964's produced had headgaskets.
The early M64 motor (964) had solid lifters and so requires a valve lash adjustment every 15k mi. - can be a DIY, but cumbersome, otherwise expect to pay about $600 to have this done. An alternative is to put 993 heads on the car with their hydraulic lifters which require no adjustment.
The valve covers were plastic and also tended to warp and leak. The fix is to switch to 965 (Turbo) billet alloy valve covers, not cheap, but it's fixed.
As the cars age, they have a tendency to allow fuel vapors to leak from the tank to the cockpit. This is usually aging hoses or worst case a bad fuel filler neck. This was upgraded and costs about $250.
The radios, the only Alpine units used by Porsche, are crap. Most of the CD units are now inoperable and there is no one who repairs them. Many owners look for the Boxster radios many of you take out. That includes me, if anyone is selling a CD 220 unit, contact me please.
The cars, similar to the Boxster, also have dual mass flywheels and some think they are problematic. In truth, they are about the same as those on the Boxster, not really a big deal. But, Porsche used the M64 motor in the RS America cars and used a single mass flywheel and spring dampened clutch plate, so this is always an alternative.
Other than this, these are very robust cars and are true bargains. Carrera 4's are less in demand because many are still mis-informed and so they tend to be the best bargains. Carerra 2's command higher prices. But, as always, a PPI and full Service History are paramount to selecting a good example.
As far as the one you're looking at is concerned, 80k with a TipS, it seems a little high to me. Mine is a one-owner 20k mi. 5-speed car, with all the updates and I didn't pay $20k for it. It was a distress sale out of FL, so this likely explains why I got the deal I did, but there are others out there. So my advice is if it doesn't seem exactly the right deal, keep looking.
Cheers!